The Spin I’m In: Angels With Attitude

The Ditty Bops – Angel With An Attitude (click below for video)

Courtesy of Maverick/Warner Bros

Several months ago I started noticing Reagan-era Mercedes Benzes parked around my neighborhood (Silverlake, Los Angeles). I’m talking about alot of these cars and all of them looking rather stately save for a bumper sticker in the back window that reads, "Fueled By 100% Vegetable Oil". I was intrigued and soon stumbled upon the source of this mystery. Lovecraft Biofuels, on the nearby and very busy Sunset Blvd.

This place is a trip. It is absolutely packed with multi-colored and custom painted Mercedes. It turns out this guy Brian Friedman converts diesel engines to run off of pure veggie oil using his patented one tank system. (most conversions require two tanks). He does it cheaply and guarantees his work from soup to nuts. It does, however, require one to have patience because Brian doesn’t like to be hassled. If you irritate or get pushy with him he won’t sell you a car. A friend just bought one and now we think it’s hilarious watching Brian turn people away. We affectionately refer to Brian as the "Biofuel Nazi". His business is absolutely booming! The car is great. Runs smooth and smells like popcorn cooking.

Now for a truly unique approach, a band I absolutely love –The Ditty Bops– are touring this summer on BICYCLES to promote their new record, Moon Over The Freeway. I heard about this a couple of months ago. I thought it was a cool idea, but my cynical ass thought to actually tour the country, that’s wishful thinking. It also seemed physically impossible. Well 82 days and 18 shows later THEY ARE STILL OUT THERE and have BICYCLED from Venice Beach CA, up to San Francisco and across to Kansas…IN THIS HEAT no less. They’ve bicycled every mile, 6 to 8 hours a day shadowed by their Biodiesel Dodge Sprinter van. Wanting to know how things were going, I got a hold of The Bops’ Amanda Barrett via her cell phone. I asked her why they were doing this, "Oh, to promote cycling, clean air, experience nature, and not spend the summer sitting in a van".

Knowing that this blog stuff is immediate and they are out there now, I wanted to know what they needed. They are looking for places to play along their route in between already scheduled performances all the way to NYC. They’ve already played some impromptu sets in coffee houses and backyards. Check out their route and if they come nearby, see if you can put together a place for them to play. You can contact their booking agent for serious inquires at http://www.thedittybops.com/contact.htm. They also have an interesting blog of their tour at their website www.dittybops.com. This band is really amazing.

And speaking of amazing bands…my band is playing the Knitting Factory in Hollywood this Saturday night, July 22nd with Imperial Teen who are featured in this weeks Spin. Come on up and introduce yourself! For more info you can check out my site at www.donitasparks.com.

And now, I’d love to hear The Spin You’re In in the comments section.

[editor’s note: We are switching this week to a new way to deliver the playlist using a new feature on iTunes version 6 called an iMix . This allows us to present Donita’s playlist via the iTunes store in a coherent list of samples you can listen to via the iTunes software. Be sure you have the latest iTunes version 6 software by clicking the text link below to the download page. Older versions of the iTunes software need upgrading to version 6 to access the iMix. – FiniFinito]

Donita Sparks

Donita Sparks is a singer/songwriter living in Los Angeles, CA. Her first solo record, Transmiticate, has been released nationwide and a US tour is booked for Spring and Summer 2008. Donita is also the co-founder and front person of the rock band L7 who have released six studio albums.

Her original scores can be heard in the upcoming feature film The Life of Reilly starring Charles Nelson Reilly and in online projects for Activision and Microsoft. In 1991 Sparks and L7 formed Rock For Choice with the Feminist Majority Foundation staging numerous concerts benefiting pro-choice organizations.
Donita has been a contributing writer at Firedoglake since July 2006 with her music column The Spin I’m In.